Clock



P- MANSEL- CLOCK. APPLICATION HLED'FEB. 6, 19'7- 1,422,590. Patented July 11, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

P. MANSEL.

CLOCK.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 6. I917- 1,422,590, v Patented July 11, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

P. MANSEL.

I CLOCK. APPLlCATiON FILED FEB. 6,191?- 1,422,590. v I Patented July 11,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WM Wann -L w W- v V46- Wk.

UNITED STATES) PATENT OFFICE.

1mm. MANSEL, OESIEMENSSTADT; NEAR BERLIN, 'ennivranrunssrenon 'ro' SIEMENS & HALSKE'A. or BERLIN, GERMANY,' A CORPORATION OFIGERMANY.

CLOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted July 11, 1922.

Applicationfiled February 6, 1917. Serial No. 146,939.

(GRANTED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. L, 1313 i To all 'whomv "it may concern.

Be it known that I, PAUL MANsnL, a sub ject of the German Emperor, and resident of Siemensstadt, near Berlin, Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Clocks (for which I havefiled application inGermany Jan. 20, 1916, Patent No. 325,934), of which the {following is a specification.

My invention refers-to clocks and. more especially to clocks provided witha striking work actuated by electricity. The object of the invention is an electric striking work adapted to automatically strike the. hours and halt'hoursaiter having been set going by suitable mechanism. lhe improved striking work is designed principally to be applied toelectric branch clocks- In the striking work according to the present invention the actuating power'is furnished by an electromagnet in combination with a rack striking work of well known construction. The eleotromagnet is intermittently excited, corresponding to the de sired number of strokes, the'current supply being controlledby a contact device controlled by the strike work itself. In the drawings afiiXed to the specification and forming part thereof the preferred form of 'a strike work according to the present invention is shownas applied to an electric,

branch clock, the strike work being adapted to strike fullan'd half hours.

Fig. 1' is a rear elevation of the strike work as a whole,

Fig. 2 is another rear elevation showing the parts of the work which are hidden behind other parts 'inFig. 1. f Figure Qtis another rear elevation showing the coactiou of parts illustrated in Figures 1 and 2..

Figure PP-is a side elevation ofthe clock mechanism. l

Fig. El is a vertical crosssectionedthe right hand part of Fig.-1.

Figsl and 5 aredetails.

Preferring torFigs. land 2, 1 is the magnet coil of the branch clock adapted to receive throughthe mainline 2a short :current impulse serving for moving the hands 7, 8 arranged at the front ofthe' base plate 0. To this end the magnet coil isdisposedon the permanent magnet The detail mechanism by which this is accomplished is immaterial for the purpose of the present application.

It is sufiicient to' assume that the coils of the electromagnet are fixed with their cores to the permanent magnet '3 by means of bracket 3 (Figures 2, 2 In the magnet circuit of the pole'pieces 3 of this magnet, an 8-shaped armature a is rotatably located, saidarmature being caused by each current impulse"transmitted through the line wire, to move onin' the same direction (clockwise i11 Figure 2 and causing in turn, by means andv8 to travel around. Near the'end of each houra longer current lmpulse is transfniitted to the work, said impulse not only to allow the strike work to strike full twelve hours. For the half hours the usual impulse transmitted every minute and serving to keep the clockigoing will suflic'e. A current impulse of greaterdurationmay be trans mitted to theclock also every halfhour.

The arbor of the minute-hand 7-carries a disk '9 provided with two diametrically opposite pins I0 (Fig. 2),"these pins being adapted to cooperate with an angular lever 12 (the releasing lever) fixedou-an axle ll in such a manner that the said lever is lifted before the end of each half and'i ull hour and will slip off exactly at the end of the half or full hours. On the lever axlell there is further fastened a pawl 13 engagingwvith the teeth- 14: o'fasegment rack l5 adapted to rock on an'axle l6. Upon lever 12 being lifted pawl 13 withdraws from between the teeth of the rack, thus allowing" thelatter to rock on its pivot16 ina' downward direction until a pin 17 fastened to it meets theiperirph? cry of a step disk 18 fastened'to the wheel coupled with the hour hand :8 (see Figure 2).

As soon as lever 12'has' s'lippedho fi a pm 10, which will be the case at the end of each full and each halt hour, the strike work is set going. The pawl 13 now meshes again with one of the teeth 14 whose distance from the first tooth, according to the position. of the step disk 18, corresponds to the length of the row of teeth which equals the number of strokes required to indicate the respective hour. 'lheretore, it the rack moved upwards during the act of striking and it an individual stroke corresponds to each tooth oi? the rack, then the number o't strokes is dependent upon the step disk and upon the position oil. the hands.

The rack caused to move upwards by the strike work magnet attracting its armature 21 pivoted at 19 and being influenced by a spring 4.5, thus causing a bell crank pivoted at 23 and carrying a toothed segment 24 t rock (Figs. 2, 2 The strike work magnet 20 is connected in parallel with the clock magnet 1 over a contact device which will be described in detail below. The toothed segment is in gear with a pinion 26 retarded in both directions by means of a fly 28 geared to it by gear wheels 27, 27, gear 27 carrying a feeding pawl 29 (Fig. i) which feeds a notched disk 30 along, when the gear wheel 27 is rotating (clockwise as seen in Fig. 2). Coupled with disk 30, is a disk 30 (Figs. 3 and 4t) which carries two )lIlS 31 arranged diametrically opposite each other and engaging alternately the teeth 14 of the rack 15 so to cause the rack to move upwards by one tooth whenever the armature 21 is being attracted. Upon the armature falling off, disk 30 remains stationary, while feeding pawl 29 thereby disengaging from disk 30 retaining pawl 33, suitably attached to the housing, engages notches provided in disk 30 and prevents this disk from turning backward. The rack is held in its position by the pawl 13 until it is lifted another tooth by a pin 31 when the armature is attracted once more. The contact device controlling the circuit of magnet 20 is actuated by the upward movement of rack 14: which, on reaching its uppermost position, causes a pin 34- arrangei'l on the rack to cut oil": the supply oi? current to magnet 20 by means oi: a lever 35, as will be described more fully hereinafter.

While the rack is moving upwards, the strike work is actuated. The striker 3T influencing the gong spring 36 is fixed on a rotatable axle 38 carrying a block 39 2) controlled by a spring 40 so as to have a tendency to remain in its position oi rest and prevent the striker from coming in con tact with the gong spring or bell after having once struck it. Block 39 is provided with an ,indenture 41; a pawl 42 pivotally attached to the toothed segment lever 25 and yieldingly held against a stop as by a spring 43 catches in said indenture 41 as soon as the armature 21 is attracted, thus causing striker 37 to be lifted each time the armature is being attracted. In order to allow striker 37 to slip oit suddenly the ratio of moving of pawl 12 and block 35) is chosen in such. a manner that atter the striker has been lifted through the necessary distance, the pawl will slip oil the lower edge of indenture 4:1, thus allowing the striker to descend freely. At the same time pawl -l-2 comes to rest on the projecting surface 42'. As soon as magnet 20 is deencrgined, the armature is released and under the action of spring 415 pawl 12 returns into its normal position as shown in ll 2 and 2.

The current supply to magnet 20 is controlled by a number of contact springs -15, 4-6, i? (Fig. 1). Spring 45 is connected to one pole of the line 2, while springs e6, 47 are connected to the other pole over the mag net winding. Spring 46 is influenced by the releasing lever 12, pawl 42 and rack 15; spring 47 by the striker 37.

The connections tor actuating the strike work are as follows: So long as the strike work is at rest, contact spring l7 rests on a flattened. portion provided on the insulating block tS fixed to the striker axle 38, contacts 457, 45 being then open. Spring 46 is removable from spring 45 by an insulating linger 49 arranged on a hell crank lever 50 provided at its other end with a fork 5,1 embracing a pin said pin being arranged on a disk 51 fixed on an axle 53. Lever 50 is spring controlled as shown at 50 in Figure 1, so that it tends to stand in the position shown in that figure, permitting springs 4:5, 46 to contact with each other. Axle 53 is coupled by means of toothed gear with another axle 53, carrying the lever 35 which in turn, under the lIlfl'UGIlCG of spring 50, tends to stand in the position shown in Figures 2 and 2. Lever 35 is swung to the right (Figure 2) by pin 3% arranged on rack 15, whenever the latter has reached its uppermost position (in Figures 2 and 2 the pin has just left the lever 35). In accordance with this arrangement whenever the strike work is at res the contact 4:5, 416 is open also, and. the strike magnet 20 receives no current.

Towards the end of each halt and fully hour, one of the pins 10 meets the releasing l leases lever 35 permitting it to swing to the left, so that b means of gear 55, pin 52 and lever 50, insu ating finger 49 (Fi ures 1, 2 is removed from spring 46. he normal tension of spring 46 would now close contact 45, 46 were it not prevented at that moment by an insulating cam 56, fixed on axle 11 of lever 12. When releasing lever 12 is lifted by one of pins 10, this cam rocks to the right (Figures land 2*) and engages spring 46, thereby holding it away from spring 45. Exactly at the end of a half or a full hour, releasing lever 12 slips off the pin 10 with which it is then in engagement. Insulating cam 56 rocks back to the left, which releases spring 46, so that springs 45 and 46 come into contact. plied with current so as to attract its armature 21. The attraction of this armature is retardedby fly 28, described before. The striker 37 is now raised by this armaturemovement to the point where pawl 42 slips off block 39 as has also been described before, permitting the striker to then freely descend onto gong 36.

In order to bring the release of the strike magnet armature under the control of the striker, the following arrangement is provided:

IVhile the striker is raised, the flattened insulated block 48 fixed to its axle 38 and against which contact spring 47 rests, causes that spring to come in contact with spring 45, thus forming a shunt around contacts 45, 46 in circuit with magnet 20. Now pawl 42, gliding on projection 42', immediately before the striker reaches its uppermost positions, depresses by aid of a pin 60, a lever 57 fixed to axle 53, thus turning finger 49 to the right (Figures 1 and 2 and opening thereby contacts 45, 46. The opening of these contacts and closing of contacts 45, 47 brings the opening of the magnet circuit under the control of the striker 37, because now that circuit is opened at contacts 45, 47 as soon as the striker descends and releases spring 47.

hen the armature 21 has been returned slowly to its position of rest by spring 45' under the retarding action of fly 28, the toothed segment 24 is ready to lift the rack further, and pawl 42, having then slipped off the projection 42 of block 39 back into alinement with notch 41, permits its pin also to release lever 57 and bell crank 50 with its finger 49, thus allowing contacts 46, 45 to close and magnet 20 to be again supplied with current. In this way, the cycle of op- The magnet 20 is now superation will be started anew until the rack has ascended to its uppermost position,

where pin 34 causes contacts 46, 45 to be opened byaid of lever 35, axles 53 and 53, bell crank 50 and finger 49. This restores the strike work to its position of rest.

Since the armature has a retarded motion the striker has reached its position of rest before the armature has reached its rest position. The striker descending unencumbered by its lifting mechanism, performs its stroke with full strength, while the retardation of the armature movement to its position of rest secures noislessness, so that the sound of the gong is not disturbed by extraneous noises. I

In order to be able to indicate the half hours by aid of a single stroke, the following arrangement is provided: As shown in Fig. 5 the first tooth 58 of the rack is somewhat lower than the rest and the releasing pin 10 for the half hours is arranged at a smaller distance from the center of the releasing disk 9, so as to cause the pawl 13 of releasing lever 12 to release only tooth 58, but to be caught again by the normal size tooth 59 next following. In this manner only a single stroke is produced;

The strike work of the clock instead of being fed from the clock supply line, may as well be fed from a battery or from a light or power current supply.

I claim 1. In an electrically actuated clock in com bination a rack strike work, an electromagnet adapted to only drive said strike work,

an armature actuated by said magnet, means permanently connected to said armature and operated by the same for lifting the striker, retarding means permanently connected to said lifting means, and means for releasing the striker from all its operating elements when it has reached its uppermost position.

2. In an electrically actuated clock in combination a rack pivotally disposed, an electromagnet adapted to only drive said striker, an armature actuated by said magnet, a lever permanently connected to said armature for lifting the striker, retarding means permanently connected to said lever, a block fixed on the pivot of said striker, said block having an indenture, a pawl journaled on said lever and adapted to engage said indenture when the armature is attracted and to slip off when the striker has reached its uppermost position. 7

PAUL MANSEL. 

